Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 July 2023
83. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will provide a full list of the individual projects funded under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund by Department; the amount of funding given in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32875/23]
View answerThe European Union’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) provides support to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial, and environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.
Initially €5.47 billion was allocated to the reserve while Ireland’s initial allocation was €1.165 billion. Since the BAR regulation came into force in October 2021, the Government has, over a series of budgets, allocated BAR funding across a number of impacted sectors in order to mitigate those adverse effects of Brexit and to adapt to regulatory changes. The Government has made significant allocations across a range of sectors, both before the Regulation came into effect and afterwards. In order to be eligible for BAR funding, the expenditure must fall within the BAR eligibility period for expenditure which runs from the 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2023. Specific BAR funding of €389 million was provided in Budgets 2022 and 2023 across a number of sectors. This was allocated as follows:
|
Department |
€m |
|
Agriculture |
271 |
|
Enterprise |
15 |
|
Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science |
37.3 |
|
Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform |
4.4 |
|
Foreign Affairs |
2.2 |
|
Tourism Culture Arts Gaeltacht Sports and Media |
7.75 |
|
Environment Climate and Communications |
24 |
|
Health |
5.5 |
|
Justice |
21.5 |
|
Transport |
0.1 |
|
Total |
389 |
Following agreement to transfer €150 million to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Ireland’s allocation from the reserve will be €1.015 billion. Ireland’s allocation now represents approximately 30 per cent of the overall BAR fund, following transfers by other Member States to their National Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Officials in my Department are currently engaging in a review exercise of Brexit related spending, from the 1st of January 2020 to the end of December 2023, for possible inclusion in Ireland’s BAR claim to the EU Commission in September 2024. This involves engaging with Departments on expenditure since 2020 outside of that allocated under Budgets 2022 and 2023 which may qualify for inclusion in the BAR claim. A figure of approximately €0.7 billion has been identified in this regard. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and Revenue are likely to account for a significant amount of that €0.7 billion figure. It should be noted that, in addition to all of the above, the Government also provided significant funding to prepare for Brexit prior to the BAR eligibility period.
The exact composition of Ireland's BAR claim will not be finalised until the claim is submitted in September 2024. My Department continues to review and assess all spending identified as Brexit-related for inclusion in the final BAR claim. As this work is ongoing, and as further funding can be considered for allocation during the remaining months of 2023, it is not possible at this time to confirm individual projects or final amounts of expenditure in any sector that will be included in the BAR claim.
